The present invention relates to a rear vehicle-body structure of a so-called open car provided with an openable roof.
Vehicles with an openable roof (convertible type open car) have been developed, and an example of those vehicles is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-261412.
As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, a vehicle 100 disclosed in the above-described patent document comprises a front roof panel 101, a middle roof pane 102, a back window 103, and a deck lid 104. The front roof panel 101, the middle roof panel 102, and the back window 103 (hereafter, referred to as “the front roof panel 101 and the like”) are connected to each other by a link mechanism, not illustrated, (hereafter, referred to as “the first link mechanism”) and also connected to a vehicle body. The front roof panel 101 and the like are changeable between a use position in which it covers over a passenger cabin 105 and a storage position in which it is stored in a storage room 106 so as to open the passenger cabin 105 by an operation of the first link mechanism. In the use position, as shown in FIG. 15, a rear-side edge of the front roof panel 101 is continuous to a front end of the middle roof panel 102, and a front-side edge portion of the back window 103 is continuous to a rear-side edge portion of the middle roof panel 102.
The deck lid 104 is connected to the vehicle body by another link mechanism, not illustrated, (hereafter, referred to as the “second link mechanism”) which is different from the first link mechanism. The deck lid 104 is changeable between a normal position in which it covers a portion of an upper-end opening of the storage room 106 (see FIGS. 15 and 16) and a retreat position in which it retreats obliquely rearward and upward relative to the normal position so as to open the upper-end opening of the storage room 106 (see two-dotted broken lines in FIG. 15) by an operation of the second link mechanism.
Herein, behaviors of the front roof panel 101 and the like and the deck lid 104 when the front panel 101 and the like are changed from the state of covering over the passenger cabin 105 to the state of opening the passenger cabin 105 will be described.
The deck lid 104 is moved, by the operation of the second link mechanism, from the normal position shown by a solid line in FIG. 15 to the retreat position shown by the two-dotted broken line, so that the upper-end opening of the storage room 106 is opened. At the same time, the front roof panel 101 and the like are moved rearward, changing their positions, by the operation of the first link mechanism.
The front roof panel 101 and the like are stored in the storage room 106 in an overlapping state in which they are overlapped in a vertical direction as the first link mechanism further operates as shown by the two-dotted broken line in FIG. 16.
After the front roof panel 101 and the like are stored in the storage room 106, the deck lid 104 is moved from the retreat position to the normal position in which it covers the portion of the storage room 106 by the second link mechanism. Thereby, the passenger cabin 105 has its open state.
As described above, according to the vehicle 100 disclosed in the above-described patent document, the front roof panel 101 and the like (the front roof panel 101, the middle roof panel 102, and the back window 103) can be stored in the storage room 106 together by moving the deck lid 104 to the retreat position.
However, since the front roof panel 101, the middle roof panel 102, and the back window 103 are all moved at the same time and stored in the storage room 106 together according to the vehicle 100 disclosed in the above-described patent document, a whole size of these members to be stored becomes so large that an area of a space through which the members to be stored pass when being stored becomes improperly large. Meanwhile, since a size of the storage room 106 and a shape and a size of an opening portion of the storage room 106 are limited in layout, there is a problem that it may be difficult to ensure the flexibility of design of the members to be stored. Further, since a whole weight of the members to be stored becomes so heavy that there is another problem that it may be difficult to improve a moving speed of the members to be stored.